g
worse; or as if Christ would expose Himself to be devoured by rats
and mice.

The Cathari, defying the real presence of Jesus Christ in the
Eucharist, rejected the sacrifice of the Mass. God, according to
them, repudiated all sacrifices. Did He not teach us through His
prophet Osee: "I desire mercy and not sacrifice."[1]

[1] Osee vi. 6.

The Lord's Supper which the Apostles ate so often was something
altogether different from the Roman Mass. They knew nothing of
sacerdotal vestments, stone altars with shining candelabra, incense,
hymns, and chantings. They did not worship in an immense building
called a church--a word which should be applied exclusively to the
assembly of the saints.

The Cathari, in their hatred of Catholic piety, railed in the most
abusive language against the veneration of images, and especially of
the cross. The images and statues of the saints were to them nothing
but idols, which ought to be destroyed. The cross on which Jesus died
should be hated rather than reverenced. Some of them, moreover,
denied that Jesus had been really crucified; they held that a demon
died, or feigned to die in His stead. Even those who believed in the
reality of the Saviour's crucifixion made this very belief a reason
for condemning the veneration of the cross. What man is there, they
said, who could see a loved one, for example a father, die upon a
cross, and not feel ever after a deep hatred of this instrument of
torture? The cross, therefore, should not be reverenced, but
despised, insulted and spat upon. One of them even said: "I would
gladly hew the cross to pieces with an axe, and throw it into the
fire to make the pot boil."

Not only were the Cathari hostile to the Church and her divine
worship, but they were also in open revolt against the State, and its
rights.

The feudal society rested entirely upon the oath of fealty
(_jusjurandum_), which was the bond of its strength and solidity.

According to the Cathari, Christ taught that it was sinful to take an
oath, and that the speech of every Christian should be yes, yes; no,
no.[1] Nothing, therefore, could induce them to take an oath.

[1] Matt. v. 37; James v. 12.

The authority of the State, even when Christian, appeared to them, in
certain respects, very doubtful. Had not Christ questioned Peter,
saying: "What is thy opinion, Simon? The kings of the earth, of whom
do they receive tribute or custody? of their own children, or of
strangers?" Pe